When cutting an optical fiber (an optical fiber core), first, a blade member is brought into contact with the optical fiber to make an initial scratch on a surface of the optical fiber. Thereafter, the optical fiber is cut by press-bending a region in which the initial scratch is made in the optical fiber. The blade member is worn each time it makes the initial scratch on the optical fiber. Therefore, conventionally, it has been considered to change the region of the blade member which is to be in contact with the optical fiber (see Patent Documents 1 to 3, for example).
In Patent Document 1, a method is disclosed which rotates the blade member bit by bit each time a disk-shaped blade member (a scratching blade) makes the initial scratch on the optical fiber.
In Patent Document 2, a method is disclosed which analyzes an end face of the optical fiber after being cut by an image analyzer, and automatically changes the contact region of the blade member with respect to the optical fiber when cutting performance of a predetermined region of the blade member is determined to be degraded according to the analysis result.
In Patent Document 3, a configuration is disclosed in which an image analyzer that analyzes an end face of the optical fiber after being cut (before being connected) is provided in a fusion splicer that is configured to connect the optical fibers to each other. In this configuration, when the predetermined region of the blade member is determined to be worn down according to the analysis result of the image analyzer, an instruction to change the region of the blade member which is to be in contact with the optical fiber is transmitted to a cutter including the blade member.